First of all: The headline says 'no mods'. This means that I have not modified any files myself. However! This guide needs The Legacy Mod by McCoys! to work.
- It fixes countless of bugs, makes broken mechanics work, and adds new content to the game. If you need a guide for installing and using the Legacy Mod, the guide is right here. This time I'm going to show you how to modify The Guild 2: Renaissance scripts. We will be starting with very easy, risk-free modifications.
- This means that I have not modified any files myself. This guide needs The Legacy Mod by McCoys! To work.Actually, the whole game desperately needs the Legacy Mod to work. So if you don't have it and need to know how to get it and how to install it, the guide is right here. Getting started in Guild 2 is frustratingly slow sometimes.
- The MegaModPack is my heart-project for The Guild 2: Renaissance which I'm working on already for almost 5 years (since may 2012). It is a huge project now and since then I learned a lot and also put in quite some works in the official patches 4.2, 4.21 and 4.211.
Legacy Modpack or Mega Modpack? I am picking up the Guild 2: Renaissance and I have heard that either Legacy or Mega are needed to make the game complete and less buggy. However, it seems like both have a ton of features and I need some help figuring out which mod is the best for me.
….Actually, the whole game desperately needs the Legacy Mod to work.
So if you don't have it and need to know how to get it and how to install it, the guide is right here.
Getting started in Guild 2 is frustratingly slow sometimes. Expect if you play as a rogue. Just few simple steps and you make +3 million in few first turns.
1. When you start the game, hit the pause IMMEDIATELY. Send your rogue to the market place. In very first few minutes, there should be helmet, armor and sword. Buy them. But you seriously must be fast.
2. Send your character to your house and set him to train. By now you don't have much money at all.
3. Stop when your character is at least level 3. Now you have two options. Cheaty: Wait for AI's pub to have a dice game and go there, OR, not so cheaty, send your rogue to the road between two cities, attack civilians and rob them. You can get 600 gold from one rich citizen. Do this until you haven enough money to build Thieves Den.
4. Build your Thieves Den IN BETWEEN TOWNS, along the road. Like that you won't be wasting time carrying your victim across half of the map. Don't hire anyone, just set your character to wait and the only employee to the Den.
5. Wait for 'the perfect catch'. Your character can kidnap people as often as he likes, but demanding ransom has ridiculous cool down. AI dynasty members travel a lot from city to city. Wait for someone who is nobleman, patrician or even prince, has over 1 million worth of assets and probably has a seat of office. It sounds difficult but I have found 3 of these walking one after another.
6. Attack this person. With the armor and sword you should be able to gain the upper hand. As soon as your victim is in the in the cell, set your character to wait outside the Den. Send your only employee to demand ransom.
7. When ransom is accepted, the person you attacked will leave your Den with very low health. Attack him again and take him to the Den. If the ransom demand was accepted first time, they probably will accept second and third one.
8. Repeat this. After first 3 kidnapping, you should have about 3 million. You'll notice that the amount of ransom you can demand ('Make them bleed!) is smaller and smaller. First over 2 million, then 1 million, then 900K, so on. But before that one dynasty is dried up, you will be rolling in gold.
9. (OPTIONAL) When you have the chance, upgrade your Den to Thieves Guild. After that, you can kill your captive. So when your demands of ransom is finally refused…. They will see how good idea it was.
Note: Sometimes per example husband and wife from the 'perfect catch'-dynasty are traveling together. Don't hesitate to attack, with your starting equipment, you rarely lose and almost never get killed. Take them both. Either you can get ransom from same dynasty twice, or, if you are beyond the step 9, you can kill one of the captives. I have noticed that dynasty which refused to pay is much more willing to do so if you have killed one of them.
Of course, this makes everyone hate you, but with that amount of gold you can buy yourself a partner and start a legitimate business. Your rogue will have terrible reputation, but your partner and children will be 'Righteous' or 'Respectable'. You can let your rogue to retire or keep him around, bombing buildings and murdering competitors, but either way, you are more than well set to be a 'proper citizen who just happens to have a house made from pure, slightly bloody gold'.
Note: This guide is meant to be used together with Legacy Mod by McCoy!. I can't guarantee that the file is exactly the same without it. If you don't already have the Legacy Mod, I strongly recommend it, as it is vital in my opinion. It fixes countless of bugs, makes broken mechanics work, and adds new content to the game. If you need a guide for installing and using the Legacy Mod, the guide is right here.
This time I'm going to show you how to modify The Guild 2: Renaissance scripts. We will be starting with very easy, risk-free modifications.
Before you do ANYTHING mentioned in this guide, make a backup of config.ini. It's found from steamappscommonThe Guild 2 Renaissance–folder. You can either only copy the original version to your desktop, or do like I do:
- Create new folder to the desktop and name it 'Modifications'
- Make a new folder inside the folder you just made and name it after the game, this time 'The Guild 2'
- Create two new folders, name on 'Original' and one 'Modified'.
- Put the original backups to the 'Original' folder. If you need to replace your modified files and want to keep them somewhere safe, put them to 'Modified' folder. This way you don't need to change names of the folders and files and can just copy-paste them from these folders back to game locations.
Now, when your original files are in safe place, download Notepad ++ from here. It's free program that is made for text-based scripting, unlike the default Notepad. Sometimes one tiny tiny mistake in the script, missing space or quote, can break the code. Those things are simply impossible to find if one is using default Notepad. Also Notepad ++ has some very good features that we will cover later on.
….Seriously. Don't even think about modifying scripts with default Notepad. It brokes everything.
Now, we have made a backup and we have the tools we need. Go to steamappscommonThe Guild 2 Renaissance–folder and open the config.ini. If it asks what program you want to use, choose Notepad ++. You may need to use 'Find another program from this computer' and then navigate to the installation folder of Notepad ++. If it opens it in the default Notepad, don't touch a thing, close it, and right click on the file. Then click 'Choose the default program'.
Now you should see a file full of scripts. Scroll down until you see this:
You'll notice that under it there is also [INIT-PLAYER-1], [INIT-PLAYER-2], [INIT-PLAYER-3] and [INIT-PLAYER-4]. All the changes that we will be making in [INIT-PLAYER-0] must be copied to the four others.
Easy way to do this, in Notepad ++, is to press Ctrl + F. It opens the search window. Click on the 'Replace' tab at the top of the window. Copy the part you want to replace, per example Workshops = 0 in the first box, labeled 'Find what'. Make sure that the part you are changing are not found from other pieces of code. If you write only Workshops =, it will also change these lines for AI. If you copy the full line, this will not happen, as player has Workshops = 0 and the AI has Workshops = 2, which don't match. If you are not sure if this changes something you don't want to change, do it manually.
Nextput the line from the first box, in this example Workshops = 0, to the box with label 'Replace with', and do the change you want to make; replace 0 with 1. The click 'Replace All'. The program should notify you that the change was made 5 times. If it's more than that, you changed something you did not want to change, if it says the text was replaced 0 times, there's a typo. If you by accident change more than you should, close the file and don't save.Save often, but only when you are sure your changes are correct.
There also is [INIT-AI-0] and so on. Soho router vs router. These changes affect only to AI, so I don't see a reason to mess them up.
What this piece of code does, is that it tells the game what your starting stats will be.
HasResidence tells if you have a house, Workshops means tells if you own a business. Money and Married are quite simple.
Thing to take into consideration when toggling the 'Married'-part is that game seems to prefer a character from your own starting class. Rogue gets Rogue, Patron gets Patron, so on. So if you don't want a character from the same class, don't change the value from '0' to '1'. Instead, start the game, choose a character from a class you want and use 'Force to Marriage'-option. Pay a bit of gold and you have a partner almost immediately.
Also what business you get is quite random. Game seems to choose a business that
A. Needs lowest level
and
B. Is most common.
So as craftsman, you will probably start with either a mine or woodcutters hut, depending which one is most common in the area.
Patron uses same logic; if there is many farms, you get a croft, if there is a much fish, you get a fishing hut. Other classes, Rogue and Scholar, get completely random business.
Also, it seems to be impossible to start with more than 1 business; my educated guess is that this is because the script uses 0 = No and 1 = Yes kind of coding. The number after '='-mark is not a number of your business, but answer to the question 'Does the character have a business?'
So if you change the line
1. When you start the game, hit the pause IMMEDIATELY. Send your rogue to the market place. In very first few minutes, there should be helmet, armor and sword. Buy them. But you seriously must be fast.
2. Send your character to your house and set him to train. By now you don't have much money at all.
3. Stop when your character is at least level 3. Now you have two options. Cheaty: Wait for AI's pub to have a dice game and go there, OR, not so cheaty, send your rogue to the road between two cities, attack civilians and rob them. You can get 600 gold from one rich citizen. Do this until you haven enough money to build Thieves Den.
4. Build your Thieves Den IN BETWEEN TOWNS, along the road. Like that you won't be wasting time carrying your victim across half of the map. Don't hire anyone, just set your character to wait and the only employee to the Den.
5. Wait for 'the perfect catch'. Your character can kidnap people as often as he likes, but demanding ransom has ridiculous cool down. AI dynasty members travel a lot from city to city. Wait for someone who is nobleman, patrician or even prince, has over 1 million worth of assets and probably has a seat of office. It sounds difficult but I have found 3 of these walking one after another.
6. Attack this person. With the armor and sword you should be able to gain the upper hand. As soon as your victim is in the in the cell, set your character to wait outside the Den. Send your only employee to demand ransom.
7. When ransom is accepted, the person you attacked will leave your Den with very low health. Attack him again and take him to the Den. If the ransom demand was accepted first time, they probably will accept second and third one.
8. Repeat this. After first 3 kidnapping, you should have about 3 million. You'll notice that the amount of ransom you can demand ('Make them bleed!) is smaller and smaller. First over 2 million, then 1 million, then 900K, so on. But before that one dynasty is dried up, you will be rolling in gold.
9. (OPTIONAL) When you have the chance, upgrade your Den to Thieves Guild. After that, you can kill your captive. So when your demands of ransom is finally refused…. They will see how good idea it was.
Note: Sometimes per example husband and wife from the 'perfect catch'-dynasty are traveling together. Don't hesitate to attack, with your starting equipment, you rarely lose and almost never get killed. Take them both. Either you can get ransom from same dynasty twice, or, if you are beyond the step 9, you can kill one of the captives. I have noticed that dynasty which refused to pay is much more willing to do so if you have killed one of them.
Of course, this makes everyone hate you, but with that amount of gold you can buy yourself a partner and start a legitimate business. Your rogue will have terrible reputation, but your partner and children will be 'Righteous' or 'Respectable'. You can let your rogue to retire or keep him around, bombing buildings and murdering competitors, but either way, you are more than well set to be a 'proper citizen who just happens to have a house made from pure, slightly bloody gold'.
Note: This guide is meant to be used together with Legacy Mod by McCoy!. I can't guarantee that the file is exactly the same without it. If you don't already have the Legacy Mod, I strongly recommend it, as it is vital in my opinion. It fixes countless of bugs, makes broken mechanics work, and adds new content to the game. If you need a guide for installing and using the Legacy Mod, the guide is right here.
This time I'm going to show you how to modify The Guild 2: Renaissance scripts. We will be starting with very easy, risk-free modifications.
Before you do ANYTHING mentioned in this guide, make a backup of config.ini. It's found from steamappscommonThe Guild 2 Renaissance–folder. You can either only copy the original version to your desktop, or do like I do:
- Create new folder to the desktop and name it 'Modifications'
- Make a new folder inside the folder you just made and name it after the game, this time 'The Guild 2'
- Create two new folders, name on 'Original' and one 'Modified'.
- Put the original backups to the 'Original' folder. If you need to replace your modified files and want to keep them somewhere safe, put them to 'Modified' folder. This way you don't need to change names of the folders and files and can just copy-paste them from these folders back to game locations.
Now, when your original files are in safe place, download Notepad ++ from here. It's free program that is made for text-based scripting, unlike the default Notepad. Sometimes one tiny tiny mistake in the script, missing space or quote, can break the code. Those things are simply impossible to find if one is using default Notepad. Also Notepad ++ has some very good features that we will cover later on.
….Seriously. Don't even think about modifying scripts with default Notepad. It brokes everything.
Now, we have made a backup and we have the tools we need. Go to steamappscommonThe Guild 2 Renaissance–folder and open the config.ini. If it asks what program you want to use, choose Notepad ++. You may need to use 'Find another program from this computer' and then navigate to the installation folder of Notepad ++. If it opens it in the default Notepad, don't touch a thing, close it, and right click on the file. Then click 'Choose the default program'.
Now you should see a file full of scripts. Scroll down until you see this:
You'll notice that under it there is also [INIT-PLAYER-1], [INIT-PLAYER-2], [INIT-PLAYER-3] and [INIT-PLAYER-4]. All the changes that we will be making in [INIT-PLAYER-0] must be copied to the four others.
Easy way to do this, in Notepad ++, is to press Ctrl + F. It opens the search window. Click on the 'Replace' tab at the top of the window. Copy the part you want to replace, per example Workshops = 0 in the first box, labeled 'Find what'. Make sure that the part you are changing are not found from other pieces of code. If you write only Workshops =, it will also change these lines for AI. If you copy the full line, this will not happen, as player has Workshops = 0 and the AI has Workshops = 2, which don't match. If you are not sure if this changes something you don't want to change, do it manually.
Nextput the line from the first box, in this example Workshops = 0, to the box with label 'Replace with', and do the change you want to make; replace 0 with 1. The click 'Replace All'. The program should notify you that the change was made 5 times. If it's more than that, you changed something you did not want to change, if it says the text was replaced 0 times, there's a typo. If you by accident change more than you should, close the file and don't save.Save often, but only when you are sure your changes are correct.
There also is [INIT-AI-0] and so on. Soho router vs router. These changes affect only to AI, so I don't see a reason to mess them up.
What this piece of code does, is that it tells the game what your starting stats will be.
HasResidence tells if you have a house, Workshops means tells if you own a business. Money and Married are quite simple.
Thing to take into consideration when toggling the 'Married'-part is that game seems to prefer a character from your own starting class. Rogue gets Rogue, Patron gets Patron, so on. So if you don't want a character from the same class, don't change the value from '0' to '1'. Instead, start the game, choose a character from a class you want and use 'Force to Marriage'-option. Pay a bit of gold and you have a partner almost immediately.
Also what business you get is quite random. Game seems to choose a business that
A. Needs lowest level
and
B. Is most common.
So as craftsman, you will probably start with either a mine or woodcutters hut, depending which one is most common in the area.
Patron uses same logic; if there is many farms, you get a croft, if there is a much fish, you get a fishing hut. Other classes, Rogue and Scholar, get completely random business.
Also, it seems to be impossible to start with more than 1 business; my educated guess is that this is because the script uses 0 = No and 1 = Yes kind of coding. The number after '='-mark is not a number of your business, but answer to the question 'Does the character have a business?'
So if you change the line
HasResidence = 1
to
HasResidence = 59
The code is broken and you start without a home.
But, let's do some changes, shall we?
Change the file to look like this:
Pc98 game. Now you start the game with a home, one workshop, with 10 million coins, and with husband / wife.
Also, if you add a line
Childs = 2
right under the 'Married' part, you will start with two children.
Please remember to change all [INIT-PLAYER]-values, otherwise these changes won't work.
But why leave it to that?
If you scroll even more, you find a part titled [NOBILITY]. Under it is a list of all titles you can have in a game, and what the starting title currently is. So let's change this:
To this:
Now you start with the highest title you can have in the game. This is only an example, but if you don't want to start as the lowest of the lowest, you can pick a little bit better title to yourself.
Are we done yet? Nope. There is more. Like the amount of EXP you start with.
Right under the [NOBILITY] part, there is a section titled as [XP].
Look for this line:
The Guild 2 Renaissance Legacy Mod Pack
And change it like this:
The Guild 2 Renaissance Legacy Mod
Now you start with 50,000 EXP points. Again, only exaggerated example, but if you want to have higher skills to start with, this is the way to get them.
Only one thing left! Don't want to wait turn or two for your mansion to be build? Look under the [XP] part in the config.ini and you see this:
Change the 0 in the last line to 1, and you never have to wait for your buildings.
The Guild 2 Renaissance
Note that for these changes only take effect when you start a whole new game. Only time I managed to get a change to work in my game was when the change itself had been done before hand, but I had managed to broke the code with typo. Fixing the typo made the code work and the game could read the file properly, and made really no new changes.
Everything I have showed here is only series of examples. How much you want to change these is up to you. If you want to start as over-power nobleman, perhaps because you're more interested role playing your character than playing the game 'right', go ahead. Otherwise, a little tweak here and there can make the game much more fun. Or, if you want a hardcore start, get lowest title, no money, no business, no husband/wife, no children, no EXP… And see what happens.
Here is a small example video of what you get with all these changes:
